Current technologies allow users to communicate online via instant messaging applications, which provide users with the ability to communicate using text messages in near real-time. A first user of an instant messaging application may download or otherwise access an instant messaging client via a network, which allows the user to enter one or more terms or phrases. The terms or phrases entered by the first user may be delivered over a network, such as the Internet, to a second user that also downloads or otherwise accesses an instant messaging client that a given instant messaging application provides. The instant messaging client of the second user displays the terms or phrases that the first user enters.
Similar to spoken conversations, conversations between a first and second user via an instant messaging application may include a plurality of terms that pertain to a variety of topics, such as weather, sports, cars, vacations, clothing, computers, employment, etc. The terms or phrases that appear in a given instant messaging application may be related to a variety of content that a given user may also access via a network, such as the Internet. For example, in a given instant messaging conversation, a first user may deliver a second user a variety of terms or phrases, in which the term “Caribbean cruise” appears. The term “Caribbean cruise” may be associated with a variety of content items that the user may access via the Internet, including, but not limited to, advertisements, web pages, video clips, etc. The term “Caribbean cruise” may also be associated with one or more related terms or phrases, such as “Jamaica vacations,” “Nassau Vacations,” “Bahamas,” “summer vacations,” etc., with which a user may provide to a search engine to access additional content.
Current instant messaging and search techniques, however, do not identify related terms or phrases with which a user may access content associated with the one or more terms or phrases appearing in a given instant messaging conversation. A user of an instant messaging application that wishes to identify content associated with a given term or phrase appearing in an instant messaging conversation is required to perform a search, such as through the use of a browser, to identify content responsive to a term or phrase. For example, a user that wishes to identify content, such as web pages or advertisements, responsive to a given term or phrase appearing in an instant messaging conversation in which the user is participating is required to enter the term or phrase into a search engine that the user may access via a browser. Thereafter, the user may be presented with responsive content, as well as one or more related terms or phrases that the user may utilize to perform additional searches for responsive content.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art to provide users of instant messaging applications with vector terms, which may be used to access responsive content that is related to a conversation in which the user is participating. Embodiments of the present invention provide solutions wherein vector terms related to one or more users' instant messaging conversation are provided to the users during an instant messaging conversation, allowing the user to retrieve content associated with the one or more vector terms.